The New York State Assessors’ Association (NYSAA) was incorporated February 14, 1940. The founders of the NYSAA established bylaws that require a twelve-member Executive Board to oversee the operations of the NYSAA. The Treasurer and Executive Secretary are employed by the NYSAA and are automatic non-voting members of the Board. The remaining ten seats are elected from the membership.

There are six two year seats, with three up for re-election each year. The remaining four seats are referred to as line officers. They are the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President and Past President. The Past President is automatically filled by the outgoing President at the completion of their presidency. Each of the line office seats are for one-year terms.

In the mid-1950’s, the NYSAA Executive Board recognized the need for more professionalism in the industry. One way to achieve this goal was to formalize the education and training process. Knowing that the task of developing curriculum, training instructors, writing text books, etc. was an extremely time-consuming task, they decided to establish a subsidiary organization to handle all education for the NYSAA. The Executive Board would tend to the operations and this new organization would be solely responsible for education.

In 1958, this dream became a reality as the NYSAA established a subsidiary organization known as the Institute of Assessing Officers (IAO). The IAO is chartered by the New York State Board of Regents and has been handling all the education of the NYSAA since its inception. Appraisal Courses, One-Day Seminars, the Cornell Seminar on Appraising, and the Annual Fall Conference comprise most of their offerings.

The IAO is governed by an eight-member Board of Trustees. Each seat is a four year term with two seats expiring each year. The Board of Trustees elect amongst themselves a trustee who will serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The Chairman serves a two year term.